The Changing of the Tide
by tennismaniac19
Summary: Pansy and Draco are somewhat of an item. However, hormones, feelings and prejudices could always be counted on to mess things up. Slytherins look out for each other, right? Well, sometimes its much harder than you imagine. And Pansy finds that out the hard way. [Written for The Quidditch Fanfiction League Round 7]


**Team: Puddlemere United**

 **Position: Captain**

 **Round 7**

 **Pairing: Draco/Pansy**

* * *

Slytherins were known for being cunning and ambitious. However, Pansy preferred to call it 'keen on self preservation'. Slytherins calculated almost everything before doing it. Looking to maximize success and reduce the chances of failure were not traits of ruthless, cutthroat villains – rather, that represented a more humble origin of a tight knit group, intent on protecting themselves from the reputation they happened to perpetuate through this protective instinct.

Ironic.

But she couldn't care less. Most of the students in the other houses weren't even worth a second thought. There were so few purebloods left, and most of them were in Slytherin. Pansy would rather kiss a Flobberworm than mingle with muggleborns and halfbloods.

"Look at that! Saint Potter strutting down the corridor with the Weasel and his little mudblood."

She felt Draco's hot breath near her neck. She also knew the sneer that was almost surely plastered on his face. He always wore that expression when talking about 'The Golden Trio'. Pansy wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment, but sometimes, it seemed like Draco went a little overboard.

"Forget about them, Draco. We have better things to think about. Professor Umbridge will be announcing the members of the Inquisitorial Squad today, remember? Wouldn't that be absolutely perfect? Slytherin prefects and Inquisitorial Squad members to top. Imagine what we'd be able to do to those pathetic Gryffindors," she giggled.

Draco relaxed a little and gave her a small smile. Not much could take his mind of Potter and his pals, but Pansy had begun to prove to be a wonderful little distraction. She knew what would happen when they went back to their common room later. They had started snogging right after the Yule Ball in fourth year. Now things had escalated slightly, but nowhere near anything remotely 'unsafe'.

Pansy loved these little moments with Draco. Her long time crush on him had finally resulted in something more than moony eyes on her part and obliviousness from him. She liked that he found some kind of relief and pleasure during their snogging sessions.

"Draco! Quidditch practice on Monday. Don't forget!"

She watched Draco nod at his captain curtly before sliding a hand across her shoulder.

 _Shoulder._

Not waist, but shoulder.

This was the little problem that Pansy had with their whole 'relationship'. It didn't feel like they were dating or intimate in any way. Sure, they snogged a lot. But that was about it. While Pansy felt delirious with joy whenever she experienced the physical pleasure she had come to associate with Draco, she knew that they were hardly more than the good friends they had been, previous to the Yule Ball.

"Let's head back, Pansy," he whispered into her ear, and she shivered despite herself.

She needn't over think things right at the moment. Not when she had a long evening ahead of her, with Draco as company.

…

"Where's Draco?"

The platinum blond was missing from his usual seat at the Slytherin table. Crabbe and Goyle were too busy scarfing down food to notice anything, but the tone in Blaise's voice told Pansy that something was wrong.

"I think I saw him going towards the library a little while back," said Daphne, unconcernedly waving her fork in the air.

Pansy frowned at her frowned and got up from the table. There was clearly something wrong. Draco had not been himself the entire morning, even though Defense Against the Dark Arts had been explosive for their enemy house. The Trio had gotten into a huge argument with Umbridge, and instead of sticking around to gloat about it, Draco had vanished without much of a word. His absence at lunch had intensified the strangeness of the occurrence, which led to Pansy making her way over to the library, wondering what Draco could possibly be doing there.

The library was almost completely deserted when she reached. She took a few rounds around the main areas before deciding that no one was there. Until she heard voices near the Restricted Section.

Curious to see whether it might be Draco, she tiptoed towards the source of noise. It sounded more and more like an argument the closer she got to it. The voices were still slightly muffled and indistinguishable due to the enchantments around the Restricted Section. Taking a few cautious steps forward, she peeked out from behind one of the bookshelves once the noise of conversation had died out.

What she saw made her breath hitch in her throat.

It was definitely Draco who was standing there. But what she hadn't expected was for him to be entangled with Granger, snogging the life out of her.

It took a few seconds for the numbing shock to clear, and once it did, Pansy Parkinson whipped out her wand without hesitation. She pointed it towards the shelf above the disgusting brunette, and screamed the incantation with vengeance.

" _Bombarda!_ "

The spell didn't hit with the designated amount of force because of the aforementioned enchantments, but it was enough to break apart the couple.

Granger had her wand ready in the blink of an eye, while Draco looked on in contorted horror.

" _Everte Statum!_ "

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Spells bounced off the bookshelves, creating enough of a diversion for Granger to escape. But not before she shot Draco a look.

Pansy coughed in the cloud of dust surrounding her after Granger's departure, but once it cleared, she found that she was all alone.

…

It had been a couple of weeks since the incident. Pansy and Draco were not speaking to each other. This decision was firmly in place due to the menacing glare Pansy wore on her face every time the blond came near her.

Her time away from him gave her a little space to observe things around her. Things she hadn't noticed before.

Things like how Draco didn't look at Granger with the same look of loathing that he reserved for Potter and Weasley, how Granger and Weasley were no longer sharing a large amount of physical proximity, and of course, how all of this made Draco irritable and aloof.

It was on a Friday night after Quidditch practice, that Pansy found herself alone in the common room with Draco.

She was prepared to pick up her parchment and walk back to the girls' dormitory, but something stopped her.

Whether she liked it or not, she still cared about Draco. Even though he had snogged that stupid mudblood, he was still one of her closest friends.

"Can I talk to you for a bit?"

His voice sounded tense and unsure, nothing like the cocky Malfoy tone she was used to.

"About what?"

"You know what. Pansy, I'm really sorry."

"No, I don't. Would you care to explain?" Just because she had agreed to listen to him didn't mean he was going to get off easy.

"I'm really sorry about the other day at the library. I don't know what came over me. And with that filthy little mudblood too! Merlin! You must really hate me right now, Pansy," he finished in a defeated tone.

"I don't, actually."

She was surprised at her reply, but it was true. She didn't hate him. In fact, she probably understood him better than he was understanding himself at the moment.

"You don't? But-"

"What you did was absolutely fucked up, but I think I know what you're going through."

Now he looked genuinely confused. Pansy wanted to laugh at the expression on his face.

"What do you mean?" he asked, uncertainly.

"You fancy her."

Draco's cheeks colored quicker than she could have possibly imagined. She waited for the verbal tirade of his denial, but it never came. Instead, he just sank into the nearest armchair, and buried his head into his hands.

"What am I going to do, Pansy? I don't want to fancy her! She's a Gryffindor and a mudblood! And she's so opinionated and annoying. But-"

"You still fancy her. I get it. I'm not happy about it, but I get it. "

"So what should I do?" he asked, looking at her with tormented eyes.

Pansy sighed. Having a soft spot for this boy was seriously going to cost her.

"Does she fancy you?"

"Yeah. I think she does," he replied with a slight glow in his eyes.

"Then you should go for it. Do it secretly or out in the open. Whatever you want. But don't expect me to be cheering you on and become close pals with her."

He nodded his head, biting his lip in mild dejection.

"But if anyone tried to get in the way, I'd be more than willing to hex them into oblivion. Especially if it's Potter or the Weasel," she finished with a smirk.

Draco's face broke out into a grin for the first time in days. He got up and enveloped Pansy in a hug, glad to have his friend back.

"I really am sorry about what I did to you," he said, looking away guiltily.

"I believe you. But don't do this to anyone. Ever. It hurts like hell."

He nodded his head slowly, looking into her eyes with a twinge of regret.

"For what it's worth, I think we were great together."

"Yeah. I think so too," she said, resting her head on his shoulder one last time.

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 **Hope you guys liked it! Please review!**


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